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The flight over is long and while the Bus is well equipped, it's a mobile command center and strike team deployment craft, not a luxury airliner. Jericho wasn't on it, for reasons that some will know and others won't. Either way now isn't the time to explain it. He did, however, manage to have a briefing ready so that they could hit the ground running, as it were.

"Hydra is set up on the site of what used to be Camp Century. Back in the sixties the US Army dug this place up as a experimental base to see how viable it was to have nuclear launch facilities under the Greenland Ice Cap. The project - Project Iceworm - only lasted for six years before the Army shut it down but the base remained. Hydra found it at some point and expanded on it. There are miles of tunnels under the ice. This facility is very, very large and the cell we're taking on is going to be well equipped and on alert. They know SHIELD and others have been striking their satellite facilities world wide, so expect things to go hot real fast.

We have three primary objectives. Team Three, you're going down the thermal ventilation shafts. It'll be warm, but nothing you can't handle. Once there you're going to be looking for the reactor control room. It's not exactly close and there'll be plenty of armed resistance, but if you get in without being noticed, a lot of them will probably be really busy fighting the rest of us, you may be able to stealth it up. When you get there, scramble the reactor. It has to be nuclear. We'd have detected the fuel deliveries otherwise. Without power, this place'll be an ice cube in no time flat. Good luck. Aspect Out."

The vents are just ahead. They're pretty well concealed and, whew, very very steep. Thankfully, SHIELD provided climbing gear for anyone who needs it.

-

Paul's not unfamiliar with rappelling and, looking at the others, it's easy to see why he was picked for this team. Out of everyone he's with, the one named Logan's the only one who looks like they know what they're doing. But there must be a reason they've been included. Something. And isn't that the girl from the bar? No time now to ask. "Anyone not familiar with the equipment, shout out and I'll help you get set. It's not difficult, just control your speed. That it's not a ninety degree drop will make it even easier." He looks over at Logan and adds "We should take point."

-

Lunair at least, was wise enough to figure out how to entertain herself without becoming too wriggly. She listens during the briefing, expression blank and peaceful. As if she sort of forgets to emote when she's not consciously working at it. Her concentration is not on her face. Tunnels, huh. Her eyebrows furrow. Thermal ventilation shafts. Oh boy. She doesn't seem too thrilled about it.

"Thank you." She is polite enough to thank him for the well wishes of luck, and she will accept climbing gear. Lunair will don her helmet. Thankfully, her armor is nice and arm. She looks to Paul. Wait. That's the cop from. Her face goes red. "Are you sure?" She seems worried about the policeman. "I will go where you like then," She offers. Lunair seems to trust the man's judgment.

-

From the ground, Kitty cranes her neck upward toward the well concealed vents are supposedly right ahead. And up. While Kitty can most likely phase her way up high enough to get in, she may not be able to get everyone up there.

"I can get two more people up there without the equipment, if anyone feels uncomfortable with it." The young woman looks to Paul with the offer. It seems that he's taken the lead and since that's not any sort of position she wants for herself, she just offers her services. "And if everyone can get around me, I can make it harder for people to see us. And to shoot us. But, I can't keep it up forever. Especially with this many people."

-

The cheshire cat is unusually serious. Many dismiss him as a joker, or a total goof, but he knows when to turn his Serious Face on, and this is a very serious thing. "I'll be behind you." He's a feline, climbing is second nature to him in this form… and he can make his own equipment to climb- handholds that can stay in midair. He's determined to put on a good face for the Titans- and that means needing no special help. Paul and Logan exhude professionalism, as well as sheer concentrated toughness. He does not want to come across as a total idiot in front of these people. For his sake, and for the Titans.

He zips up the padded vest. It's going to get warm, but cats soak up warmth for rainy days. When Kitty speaks up, he stands next to her and adds, "I can help you with that. I can create illusions, including invisibility. But… I have never actually tried to make anyone else invisible but myself. You might need to stay in a tight circle around me because… if I can't see you, I can't affect you, so when I make you invisible, if you go out of the safe zone, you'll probably appear."

-

The trip down isn't too eventful. The trick is at the bottom. The ventilation for the heat venting system isn't exactly made for people. There are fan blades and grates and… yeah. They are large enough for the team to fit in and fortunately there are schematics available so that they won't be crawling blind in there. There are two likely exit points. One is a large server room about three hundred meters straight shot to the reactor control room… down a very wide, well lit corridor. The other option is a kitchen facility, twice the distance away through cramped, windy side access tunnels… longer route but less chance of being spotted…

-

Paul took the opportunity to get at least an idea of what everyone can do before they descended. A full briefing on the Bus would have been nice but whatever. Team formation depended on who would be there. Kitty can get everyone past the fans and grates safely and without noise even if it takes longer. The point is to be undiscovered. And since obstacles aren't a problem, it comes down to which way to go? "I'm thinking we should stay together and take the longer route. Vorpal's invisibility doesn't sound like a sure thing and if it fails at the wrong time, we've got no cover in that wide corridor."

-

Lunair will carefully share what she can do. Lunair can create incredible armor and weapons on demand. She seems pretty clever, but unaware of that. And yes, if Vorpal asks, she will help make some for him. But for her part, she is a follower on this one. Lunair is likely one of the younger folk and this isn't her show. That, and Paul seems wise. As does Logan. She'll go with that. On one hand, she doesn't mind the idea of red misting an entire room. On the other, that's probably pretty bad by most folks' accounts. "I am fine with either. But I guess if we want to be truly quiet, the long way is best," She remarks. She is in quiet, serious mode. And she even has her helmet on, dark visor over her face.

-

"Between the two of us," Kitty grins at Vorpal, "I think we should be able to get us all in without being seen." To the people coming with her, she holds out her hands to take them both firmly. "Don't let go," she tells them. "And maybe don't look down, you might get vertigo and I don't really want to be thrown up on." And then, ensuring that they are ready, she tugs on their hands and steps downward. Immediately their feet will suddenly feel lighter and is descending the vent is really just like walking down stairs they cannot see. The fans and grates pose no problem for them with her ability and then she waits, crouched.

With a nod, she looks to the others. "I think two of us with smaller groups would work well. However, I'm not opposed to going the long way for less exposure. No reason we can't just use the invisibility and my phasing through there and with less risk."

-

Vorpal nods, "Long and safe is good," the Cheshire says, and nods to Kitty, giving her a quick grin- but not too long a one. Professional, damnit.

~What? No jokes about taking a snack—~

~No~

~How about fridge raid? I have a —~

~NO~

~No jokes. At all? What's your damage, Heather?~

~Do you want them to look down on us as unprofessional rookies?~

~Okay, what about if we end up fighting?~

~No jokes~

~HOW ABOUT- if we end up in a big, epic, swashbuckly fight, and we are winning, how about then?~

~…Maybe.~

"I can create constructs, illusions, connected holes in the fabric of reality, and I can release a chaos wave that… well. Ever seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks?" the Cheshire tells Paul, because that's the best way to put it. "Just use me and my resources however you see it best."

He will go after everybody, to make sure nobody needs any help. He can climb without problems, and he can simply Rabbit Hole past those blades- so he cedes his spot with Kitty for someone who really needs it.

-

"'stead of chargin' through either path, Cat could short out one of the fans. Likely bring an investigation, then a crew to look it over." If they have any sort of time before the other teams throw the proverbial shit into the proverbial fan. "Guards'll come from nearby, might give a couple of us a chance to slip behind 'em down the quick road— sooner the power's down the more chance we have of keepin' this from going shit side up seven ways from sunday." He could clambor down the thermal exhaust if he wanted… hell, Wolverine could just huck himself down and bounce through the fan and come out the other end well enough— but it's hardly subtle, so he sticks with the phaser's hand. Given the plan he offers, devious seems to be an instinct the berserker possesses as well.

Logan's cagey on the ride about 'what exactly he can do', but seems confident he's the best there is at it, and certainly pays attention on the flight over to the exchanges of the people he doesn't know— with the wary, distanced perspective of a mistrusting guard dog. One thing's for sure: he's not a huge fan of taking his damn time. "Shit goes bad, they'll think it's a smaller incursion than it is, focus most of their attention away from the generators anyway." he further hypothesizes— possibly underestimating the sheer weight of his rep.

-

It's so sudden it may worry the team, but as they get into the machinery there's a distinct, echoy Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap. Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap. Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap. Alarms? Wait… no. Those are distant, from two points on the base. Sounds like the other two teams are in it already. Bad for them, ish, but good for the stealth team. Distractions of the shooty and explosive kind are always helpful. So far, no one seems to know they're here… Though that's about to get harder. The infiltration or investigatory minded among them will spot them first, the motion plates, vibration sensors and CCTV cameras. Security here isn't perfect no, but it is tight. Maybe time for some creative pathing and/or sabotage.

Voices. Running boots. Whatever's going on - that sounded like grenades going off - it's getting real hot and people are scrambling.

-

"We're in an ant hill." Paul points out. "They send guards to investigate the fan? There'll still be more guards where we want to go. Our mission is to quietly get to the reactor and then we can make as much noise as we want to in breaking the thing." It's what Vorpal says though that really catches his interest and he turns to the… cat guy. "Connected holes in the frabric of reality? Does that translate to opening portals from here to there?" He's familiar with Illyana so that's not a new thought. Cocking his head to one side, he listens then nods. "Seems like the others are creating a distraction."

-

Normally, that's Lunair's job! But today, not so much. She looks around them. She is putting herself in Kitty and Vorpal's hands. That's definitely different. She pauses. "Let me know if you need weapons or armor," She finally remembers. But she's concentrating on being quiet, and climbing. This climbing business is a bit novel to Lunair. Don't look down, don't look - whoa, stairwalking. "Thanks." She pauses. "Want me to EMP the cameras? I think that'd work. Or else I can just -" Well, it's Lunair. She's good at chaos.

-

"Sounds like we won't really need much help in a distraction." Kitty looks upward at the sudden shaking and running and alarm noises. "It's almost like Tokyo all over again," she smirks at Logan.

"I can phase through the sensors, take out the security cameras." A hand reaches to the katana strapped to her waist. "As long as I don't run into the vibration sensors, I should be fine. I may be able to even circuit them and come out of the walls right by the cameras. At least then we won't have to worry about them watching us. With everything else going on, I doubt they'll notice a few black holes in their video feed." She glances to Vorpal, sparing a grin. "Or we could do a reality hole and EMP the cameras. That seems simpler. For us, at least."

-

"My holes have a restriction- line of sight only." Really, that was the restriction with all of Vorpal's powers except for the chaos wave. "I could, however…" the Cheshire cat looks pensive for a few seconds. "I could simply create illusions of the corridor in front of each camera we encounter. Maybe a panoramic illusion so they can swerve the cameras around without noticing anything is awry. I can make us some platforms in the air so as not to set off the sensors."

-

"Yup. Appreciate the lesson." It's clear Wolverine totally does -not- appreciate the time taken to explain these things to him, as they descend towards the network of security devices. "Ain't about clearin' out the target, it's about making a hole just big enough that they don't see us high tailing it there, 'til we're basically there." The gruff impatience hardly settles with having to explain himself in return. "They got their eyes peeled on the other end of the base, it goes badly for 'em there— and it will— an' we don't have this shit shut down, guess what happens with the bioweapons?"

From the dour notes he plays, it's pretty clear Wolverine would expect them to go out with a terroristic bang— he has little faith in Hydra's willingness to lose gracefully, and less desire to see this shit launched on any level. "Suggest we go light on the whole 'tearing the flamin' reactor apart' thing, though." Since, you know, it's nuclear. "Shut down power, divert the backups, disable the crew: problem solved without adding meltdown to the damn list." The Canucklehead just shakes his cranium. Amateurs.

A more enthused nod is paid to Kitty, then Vorpal, "Good— divert the shit on the path to the server room without fryin' it, set the countermeasures off down the ducts to the kitchen." EMP detonations, fried sensors— make a big stink in the safe direction, bolt for the dangerous one. "Anything left gets in our way, we tear in before they know what hit 'em." Worst case, it should leave the bulk of the forces still in the area looking the wrong direction. "Then we're there an' they gotta fight -us- for the turf we need. Bogged down in snakin' hallways does the rest of the team no good. Need this grid down five minutes ago."

-

Now that they've got the game plan figured out, they make pretty good progress it must be said. They can hear fighting echoing around them and, hey, there are several pretty close calls, but the sneaking has commenced and Team Sneak is all over this. It's probably only about eight or nine minutes until they're at the reactor control room itself.

That's where there's a problem. Something stinks in there. Well, actually, it smells fine. To everyone but Paul. To Paul? Even though the room seems fairly empty but for some nuclear reactor techs… it really Stinks.

-

Do this and bypass these sensors. Do that and bypass those. Do something else and go around these others. Too complicated, too long. Their friends are being shot at. And Logan is on the same page. "All right, let's do this…" It all goes as planned except for the very ending. Semi-automatic rifle at the ready, Paul pokes his head in to take a look but doesn't even need to see anything before he steps back. "Oh shit." he whispers. "We got problems. One of them's a demon. A strong, fucking demon."

-

Lunair is worried. Some of the folks going along she knows, and likes. And they are being shot at. She nods, listening. Lunair is youthful, so she's figuring out the finer points of all of this. "Should holy water work?" She asks. Lunair is going to have her own, alarmingly high powered rail gun to bear. She trusts Logan and Paul's judgment. Lunair is definitely a follwer here.

-

"Well, then it's a good thing there's five of us and only one of him. How are you on fighting?" Kitty glances at Vorpal. Because she knows that she and Wolverine can handle themselves. And Lunair certainly looks like she know's what's up in a fight. Paul has a semi-automatic rifle, she has very little doubt that they can all handle it. She pops the handle of her sword out of its case so that its easier to unsheathe. "If we all attack at once, I'm sure we can take it. Or maybe even all of us working to push it into one of Vorpal's portals and straight into the reactor."

-

"Black Tiger Fist black belt" Vorpal says to Kitty. "So a demon…" he perks his ears. "We've fought demons before. The Titans, I mean. We had two on our rooftop, and Zachary and I sling-shot a third demon halfway across Gotham. Good times." He smirks. "I'm not exactly a magician, but I am magical, chaos magic and all. If you need something to throw at the demon… feel free to use me." Another trend: the supernatural. Demons, to be specific. Maybe he attracted the damned things because he was made of chaos magic, and chaos would have its way. "The portal idea has merit, but I wouldn't want to see what the demon would do to the reactor. Like the big guy said," he thumbs at Logan, "We need to shut it down."

-

"Guess we fuckin' kill it." Wolverine proposes as a solution to the bigass problem before them. It's a complicated solution: but he seems pretty sure about it. There's a pause, a searching glance to make sure everyone's ready, and he waits out the discussion just long enough for everyone to stabilize themselves and center minds and intentions for just that task ahead. Then, *SNIKT* sounds in stereo, and Logan takes the door right off its mountings wholesale with his half-dozen built in adamantium razors, tearing down reinforced steel like it were so much aluminum foil.

With a harsh impact of one reinforced limb, Logan kicks it in and charges up and over the hurtling door before it's even fully fallen, letting out an impressive warcry— if the rest are techs, it should be immediately evident who in the room poses the threat, the berserker's catlike orbs scanning from one to another in milliseconds. The one he identifies as the least alarmed, and/or the most aggressive? The Canucklehead goes tearing -straight at-, snarling and bearing teeth and claw. He likely knows this won't end well for him: but it might create one hell of an opening. No pun intended.

-

In the space of time between when Logan starts his charge and ends it, the frail looking tech in the center of the room has become a nine foot tall bull headed demon with a wicked looking axe. One which comes down at Logan with a bestial roar as the Canuck closes. Around the room the remaining techs begin to convulse and froth as though undergoing some kind of forced metamorphasis in which they sprout claws and scales and glowing eyes. Several of them look most distinctly displeased to see Vorpal and Lunair and Kitty. They mean to fix that.

Permanently.

-

"Yes, holy water should work." Paul tells Lunair. "I don't know what it has under its belt but hopefully the worst it can do is beat the shit out of us. Take out the techs and don't be surprised when I change." When Logan take the intiative and goes charging in, he just sighs. "Berserker." He steps into the room behind Logan, firing several bursts at the techs even as they start to change. "Shit." he repeats and suddenly in his place is a much larger, broader and demonic looking creature with rivulets of flame visible in the crags of his coal black body. Negligently, he tosses the rifle to the side. "Be careful."

-

"Okay," Lunair nods. She's going to keep her railgun. "Change?" She seems curious. And then, Logan is gonna do his think. He's the best at what he does and it's not pretty. Lunair's pretty sure it involves snikting. He's like the second snikter she's met. Funny, that. But she has nothing more to think about that because there's no time. INFERNO COP is here!

She slings her rail gun over her shoulder, and gets out what looks almost like a divine super soaker. It's holy water time, first! She's going to try spraying one of the techs with it. Or whatever comes in her path.

-

Looks like the charge has already started. Kitty is quickly following after the rampaging Logan. Running right past Paul and his shooting, she phases so as to not worry about bullets hitting her in the back. And then, she's leaping up into the air and bringing her sword down toward one of the techs on the far side. She only becomes solid again once she is falling on him, the sword a gleaming slash, attempting to knock him to the ground if nothing else.

-

"Demons, why does it always have to be demons?" Vorpal says, because a movie reference always makes things better. The cat may be trained in one of the most explosive and damage-focused Kung-Fu schools out there, but he is a big believer in letting others do the job for you. Especially, in making bad guys hurt other bad guys.

He doesn't strike any combat stances, but rather he looks at the demon and opens a Rabbit Hole in the path of that lovely swinging axe- the other end opening by one of the beclawed monstrosities that are looking at him, Luna and Kitty as if they were teeny boppers and the cheshire was the last remaining Ricky Martin concert ticket available on the Western Hemisphere. If everything goes as planned, that axe swing should do a pretty bit of damage to one of the minor techs-turned-demons while at the same time sparing Logan the need to snkt-parry that ginormonous axe.

"Rabbit Hole: Never leave home without it!"

Okay, so he didn't keep the promise about jokes. It's not easy being purple.

-

Bigass axe takes bigass bite. If there were a shitty headline written about the impact, that would be it— at least, without Vorpal's intercession. Wolverine barely tries to dodge, just launching to the side, intent on taking the blade in the shoulder. It would bite to the bone, but no further, and the growl that comes as he's spared the impact by focused magic is almost… frustrated? The paradox that is the ninja berserker is confident he could have taken it, and presses the close combat regardless of the wisdom therein. His opposite arm snaps across and leaves three shallow gouges on the axehead— no good.

On the return swipe, though? The thick bone from some supernatural creature that forms the weapon's haft is quite literally split, several pieces falling free and relieving blade from its wielder, the axehead tumbling free behind Logan as he leaps forward to make a defiant grasp for the length still in the Demon's hand. As it's raised back in the alarmed beast's grasp, the feral runt vaults from his grasp into unassisted flight which happens to be straight for that lead demon's face, claws soundly snicker-snacked to and fro several times in a flash as he seeks to carve off large pieces of that vital area around the head and throat. He'd holler back for them to get to the console as soon as there's any chance— but at the least, he's utterly confident Pryde knows what she's doing.

-

There aren't, fortunately, that many of the minor techs and Vorpal, Kitty and Lunair have already handled most of them. There's the matter of the huge, now axeless, demonic being in the center. The one that proceedes to punch over at Logan as he leaps through the air. The one turning to face Paul with a savage roar. That one. Then again, there's also that console in the center of the room and the thing they came here to do…

-

Paul charges the largest demon, one hand outstretched to reach for its throat, his right fist pulled back ready to punch through its chest. Or try to, at least. "Shut things down." he tells the others. He's got this. Hopefully. "Two choices." he tells it. "Back to Hell willingly or we send you there." The answer doesn't matter much to him, if its still on this plane, he's going to try to kill it. If not, all the better.

-

Lunair knows better than to charge. She's soft, and squishy. She probably could console wrangle, and will help with wrangling minions on the side. Holy water and/or blasts of railgun should keep things relatively clear for them to bother the reactor good and proper. If the big demonic being doesn't back down, he's getting to enter the world's first demonic wet t-shirt contest.

-

With the tech she was fighting down, Kitty doesn't even check on the others and the axe-less demon. She's sprinting across to the console. In an impression of the girl in Jurassic Park - she knows this - or at least she knows a system similar enogh to be able to shut things down. Typing furiously, she's trusting that the others will be able to keep the demons away from her, because she can't phase while attempting to interact with the computer.

-

Do not trust the Cheshire cat with volatile equipment when you need a shutdown instead. Vorpal isn't tech-savy enough to figure out what controls need to be pushed and when. But Kitty needs someone to watch her back, and who better to watch a Kitty than a kitty?

The cheshire gives one of his trademark grins and an enormous axe appears in his hands, glowing purple. "Showtime!"

He leaps to put himself between Kitty and any hellish manifestations of the nether pits of the stygian abyss (a.k.a. Tiburon, California) who want to stop her. "You know how the saying goes… off with their heads!" Vorpal says, beginning to swing the axe at the incoming demons. He has no compunction in beheading minor demons- that's what you do to them, just ask Buffy. Balrog Policeman and Little Ball Of Rage Logan can take care of the big demon, Lunair and Vorpal have got Kitty's back.

-

The punch hurts— some might even say it does its job exactly as intended, /launching/ Wolverine back the other direction before the runty Canuck can slice and dice the creature's cranium right off.. in chunks. Of course, it's hard to sell the effort as a win when Logan flies free along with most of that massive, freshly amputated demon arm. Demonic ichor spurts in voluminous gouts as the Wolverine lands in a forceful skid, coming up in a three point crouch, the bruising impact already healing beneath his sneaksuit.

Obviously, Logan's ribcage is exceedingly unbroken despite the unnatural, flesh-pulverizing force, so as Paul takes the giant's attention and battles it with powers attuned for just that task the feral runt launches himself to the side to pounce and liberally gore one of the remnant minions seeking to assault Vorpal and Kitty's flank as they are both occupied with the struggle. From the short, bloody, stabbity work he makes of that task, it's clear which set of claws have the proverbial leg up.

-

The demon glares at Paul and Logan as Kitty scrambles the reactor. Slowly it fades back from whence it came, unwilling to be destroyed for this.

That's when the alarms start sounding. "Alert. Alert. Prime Commander deceased. Power cut. Base functions offline. Self destruct in thirty seconds. Hail Hydra." Then, somehow, teleporter beams home in one veryone and they find themselves… back in the parking lot at the tri?